T. OTTEWILL & CO., London

Details

T. OTTEWILL & CO., London
A 10 x 8 inch mahogany-body folding sliding-box camera with lacquered-brass fittings, removable ground-glass holder, removable front lens panel with vertical and horizontal movement, one mahogany wet-collodion darkslide, four reducing inserts, and inset plate T. Ottewill & Co., Manufacturers, Islington, London, in a fitted wood box; a brass bound Ross, London lens no. 8662 with rack and pinion focusing; and a brass bound Ross, London single-element lens no. 4483 with pill-box stops, in maker's plush-lined leather case.

Literature

R. C. Smith (1975), Antique Cameras, p. 42, 43-44.
M. Pritchard (1990), 'The Rise of British Photographic Manufacturing 1839-c.1860' in Pritchard (editor), Technology and Art, p. 64. 'Communications, &c' in Photographic Journal Vol. I no. 12 (December, 1853), p. 64.

Further details

See illustration

Lot Essay

A similar camera for 10 x 12 inch plates and lacking lenses was sold in Leica Cameras. Cameras and Optical Toys, 8 July 1993, lot 487. Thomas Ottewill was one of the best of the early camera maker's in terms of the quality of his products and design ideas.

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